Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Tuesday 01/30 A.M. Quickie:Barbaro, KG and Super Bowl Media Day

Super Bowl XLI Media Day is here, the annual symbol of Super excess. More on that (in its own post) a little later this morning. Meanwhile...

Barbaro Euthanized, The Day After: In the frenzy of attention (and even grief) in the last 24 hours, it's worth asking:

What attracted fans to Barbaro's story? Our common love of a great animal story? A sport with an important historical legacy (but archaic value today) with its last great myth? And, obviously: His brief, brilliant career -- his vast potential, tragically cut short?

It was easy to watch the spectacle of anthropomorphic love that human fans assigned to an animal athlete. But this morning, you realize it's a little tougher. It IS the death of an athlete. And not just any athlete, but arguably the Athlete of the Year from 2006.

UPDATE: On an early-morning plane ride today, I was continuing to think this over, and I decided that if I could write this post again, I would go with a "Quickie Vocab" approach and coin the word: "Fanthropomorphism," which means "Sports fans who project human qualities onto animals or sports-related inanimate objects." (No, I wasn't flying down to Miami. Ha!)

Meanwhile, when I want the best horse-racing analysis, I always check out Andy Beyer from the Washington Post. Here's his take on Barbaro.

I also recommend the coverage by Joe Drape, who writes about horse racing as well as any reporter in the country.

Super Bowl XLI: The Colts arrived yesterday. The Bears had already gotten a practice in. I think one team wants it more.

Yeah, right: With one extra day to be lured by SouthBeach, maybe getting to Miami early isn't such an advantage.

Two words should set the rule-of-thumb for players: Early. Curfew. I know it might be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but is it so hard to stay focused on the REAL goal of winning the game?

An "Oh-Sweet-Goodness" Update: Matt Ufford of Kissing Suzy Kolber and WithLeather is going to Miami... with an invite to the Penthouse party. Hide the children everyone. I'm obviously biased, but bloggers will offer the best on-site coverage in Miami, precisely because they have no business being there.

NBA On-Court: KG had 44 points and 11 rebounds in his best effort in years, helping the lowly T'wolves snap the Suns' 17-game winning streak.

NBA Off-Court: Maybe Latrell Sprewell DOES need all that money to feed his family. The mother of four of his kids has sued him for $200 million in a palimony dispute.

MLB: Bonds deal done? You can now officially say goodbye to Hank Aaron at the top of the record books. Bonds passing Aaron will be THE sports event of 2007.

More MLB: The Red Sox won't get Todd Helton. Meanwhile, Curt Schilling won't retire after the 2007 season. (Just ask him.) He's planning to return in '08, too. His life as a TV analyst will just have to wait.

Cowboys coaching search: Mike Singletary will interview today, but why would Dallas hire a young, up-and-coming coach when they so obviously have Jason Garrett waiting in the wings to take over?

College Hoops: Pitt for real this season? Solid win over Villanova on ESPN last night makes me think that maybe – maybe – this is finally the year that Pitt lives up to its great regular season with a run to the Final Four. It's a down year for the Big East, so it's easy to overlook them. Tracking...

Meanwhile, I love the "BracketBuster" concept. It's probably the best thing to happen to the college-hoops regular-season, precisely because it is made-for-TV and precisely because it boosts mid-major teams and precisely because it gives fans who love to accurately pick March Madness brackets the chance to watch teams that might be the next George Mason. This year's schedule was unveiled yesterday. Butler versus "So. Ill." is the headliner, but I want to know: Where is Air Force?

This OJ Mayo story is getting more interesting: He was thrown out of a game Friday after allegedly bumping a ref. But when you watch the video, that looks pretty sketchy.

Check it out here. (The station must have told YouTube to take down the clip, because it's only available here.) The ref has obviously become the central character/villain in the story.

Consequently, Mayo was suspended for tonight's high-profile (read: televised) game. That won't do: Not for the biggest talent in high school hoops this season in his most high-profile TV appearance.

As usual, it went from blogosphere sensation to mainstream media, which will only help Mayo's case to be reinstated quickly. Why the urgency? Fairness, sure, but also his own publicity machine.

UPDATE: OJ Mayo got a temporary injuction to play tonight. Of course he did.

90 comments:

Please, that horse gets (er, got) better healthcare coverage than my dad. I don't want to see anyone/thing suffer and die or whatever, but come on. We're people, it's just a horse.

Why was it so funny when Deadspin mocked the Barbaro get well posters? Because when it comes down to it, most of us realize that people who get so worked up over a horse are a little crazy.

And I'm not buying the fact that he was "athlete" of the year or some sort of racing miracle. It seems almost every year we have that one "this is finally the year for the triple crown" horse. Why was Barbaro any different? This whole ordeal was farcical to a ridiculous degree, and I'm glad it's over.

Uhh ... wow, yeah ... so, the Super Bowl. Alright!

(And if Bonds breaking the HR record is the biggest story in 2007 sports, it's going to be a really long year...)

Whenever an (human) athlete dies, or faces some sort of adversity, or wins a Super Bowl, people tend to try to really deify the guy. I guess we just like to worship our athletes--the kind of sentiment that gets movies like Field of Dreams made. And more often than not, if he stays on the public stage long enough, we'll find out the guy is human after all, and flawed. Like Kobe.

With an "athlete" like Barbaro, there's no chance of disappointment. People can throw words like "brave" and "noble" at a horse, and the horse will never do anything to prove them wrong. Well, except for that horse drug-scandal thing...

Anyway, I really think that's where this comes from. People want a heroe, want to be inspired. And a horse can't let them down. They can project whatever qualities, strengths and emotions they want to on the animal.

The tragedy of it is that people's need for this sort of emotional satisfaction can lead to something like the Barbaro situation--where an animal with almost no chance of survival has to live through months and months of (painful?) recovery, so people can have something to believe in? Or maybe it's not a tragedy--maybe it's worth one animal suffering if it allows enough people to manufacture some hope, courage, sympathy, whathaveyou.

Athlete of the year? Pleaes tell me you're kidding, Dan. In my opinion horses shouldn't even enter the discussion but at the very least for a horse to even be considered the Triple Crown has to be a requirement. Every year a horse wins the Kentucky Derby. Should we automatically put that horse in the Athlete of the Year discussion? Because really that's all Barbaro did, win the Derby. Just because the media coverage was blown immensely out of proportion doesn't mean he's any more worthy of Athlete of the Year status than the winner of the Preakness or Belmont Stakes, and I can't name either of those horses. I empathize with those who truly cared about the horse but I can't say I'm sad to see this story finally come to an end.

Bonds breaking the record is not a lock this year. His power was down last year, and he is a year older and 2 more surgeries removed from his best power years. If he does break it, it will be almost as much of a non-story as him passing Ruth, simply because people don't care about Bonds any more. I can't even believe I just dedicated 4 sentences of my time to him.

It would be great to see Singletary coach the Cowboys (even though I hate them). He is an up-and-coming coach with a great defensive mind. He would be paired with a good offensive coordinator (potentially?) with some quality players in place (if TO and Romo are quality). Even if it is just a 2-year placeholder gig, it is hard to imagine he couldn't get a decent playoff team in those two years and then move on to a franchise that really wants him. In the next 2 years, he may see openings in NYG, Chicago (if they don't start paying Lovie), Tennessee, Carolina, Oakland, San Diego, Denver.... ah, the possibilities are endless.

But, alas, my guess is he waits until next year when the San Diego job is his after another Marty Meltdown.

If OJ Mayo gets to play in the next game, even if the "bump" was a non-issue, it will just further his thug life status. TV or not, he needs to sit the bench and any coach or administrator who bends a rule for tv time should not be allowed to work with kids ever again!

SIU versus Butler to be the "teams to watch" this year in the tourney? George Mason came out of no where last year. SIU has a team that could make it to the Sweet 16 (as do 2 other teams in the MVC)and nobody should be shocked (and if they were, they don't know much about college b-ball).

I'm just wondering if that same guy will be back this year...the guy last year who said that mid-majors didn't belong in the tournament...what was his name again? Ah who cares, he didn't belong on the air.

Fans?!?! Ask instead why the media, including ESPN spent SO MUCH TIME covering a FREAKIN' HORSE! Outside of the media, there are some over-enthusiastic animal/horse/racing-lovers who were interested in the story, but the idea that this was a story of mainstream interest has always, to me, been a farce. What happened at the Preakness sucked, but come on. This story was the most overblown/over-reported in the last year or so (and yes, that includes all things T.O.). At least now the story's over!

It IS the death of an athlete. And not just any athlete, but arguably the Athlete of the Year from 2006.

Is that supposed to be a joke?

As far as the Superbowl goes, I doubt the one day makes a difference, but there's nothing else to report on until the Media Day spectacle begins, so we can run with it for another couple of hours. I say, it shows the Colts are worried about being overwhelmed by the Superbowl while the Bears are staying focused! Yeah! ;)

I think the Spreewell story is pretty funny. The Mayo video isn't working for me...

I have a very random question to help settle a late night discussion with my brother. Does anyone know where I can look up how much NBA players bench press either on average or in particular Richard Hamilton or Tayshaun Prince. Thanks!

Why would a ref fake a bump like that? I'm not asking that in a "There's no reason for him to, so Mayo obviously pushed him" sense. I'm asking that in a "Why would he do that, knowing it looked so stupid?"

Saw the video about Mayo... definately deserved the two T's. There's a reason the anchor is working at small market station with his WWE comments. It's not hard to shove someone to the floor when they're walking. Viscious...no? But he did bump him and you learn (supposedly) as a 8 year old that you never ever ever touch an official.

I hate the fact that espn televises high school sports. It's ridiculous and sad. I think its made these high school "phenoms" think the world revolves around them and they're some sort of superstar celebrity. I'm surprised LeBron seems so level headed. Mayo seems like a thug, which is exactly why Huggins was recruiting him the last two years.

Oh please, the horse isn't an athlete. It runs because that is what horses do. Just happened to be faster than the other horses. Let me see him dunk a basketball or score on a break-away while wearing skates, then we can call him an athlete.

That OJ Mayo video was pretty weird. Granted, we don't know what was said but that official really seemed as if he was trying to give the kid the Montreal Screwjob. Manu Ginobili wouldn't have gone down from that contact.

I felt bad during the Preakness when Barbaro got hurt. It was sad the way he kept lifting his leg. That was 8 months ago and realistically everyone knew that the horse would end up being put down. It's not really a big deal.And athlete of the year is just ridiculous.

I know that Barbaro was "just a horse" but come on people! The story wasn't just about him, it was about triumph over adversity and beating the odds. People love those stories, which is why it got so much media attention. I'm not writing Barbaro cards or anything, but I do think it was a great story, even though it got overblown. Even though he only won the Kentucky Derby, he was so good that he had the potential to win the Triple Crown, and the fact that no one will ever know what could have been made the whole story even better. Why couldn't a horse be considered an athlete? They are worth millions of dollars, train to compete, and there's even talk of steriod use. Sounds like a typical athlete to me! RIP Barbaro

geoff - what about that bird that dunks basketball and putts? He's apparently an athete by your standards...

Barbaro was a great horse with a lot of promise, undefeated career etc. But what gets me is that people are going apeshit about him dying. Horses get put down every single day on the track from injuries exactly like his. He was only kept alive because his owners knew he was worth a gold mine at stud.

I happened to watch comedy central last night, and windows vista was advertising the whole show, and they swiped the end music from This Week in Baseball for a minute-long ad. Although it was cool to hear, it was still depressing a bit to hear tied to an ad.

(Simmons' book mentions the actual name of the song....something about Clouds. I suppose I could google it.)

Is Mayo enough of a thug that there's any chance he doesn't finish high school?

Lastly, on Barbaro, will anyone accidentally mix up a bottle of Barbaro cum with a bottle of Barbaro glue and sell the wrong thing?

I was waiting for the waterskiing squirrel comment. Thank you Troy for coming through for me.

Who is going to be this years stand out interview during media day? MarHar? Tank? What Colt is going to say anything which is a cut against the Bears. I hope it is Booger. Just because I like hearing someone's youth nickname to describe them as an adult. Lovie needs to keep the NFC Champion Bears in the underdog, us against the world, mindset.

As for Mayo, it looked a little sketchy but like ohters have already said, this is exactly why HS sports should NOT be televised. The production is segnificantly worse and it's hard to get all the facts.

In the Super Bowl, I really don't think there will be many problems this week. THe Colts are led by Dungy, a devout Christian. He is not going to let his players do anything stupid. Plus, their players have never really been in trouble (minus the whole Nick Harper and his wife thing). Smith is the same way, but he also has to deal with Tank Johnson. I would hope that Johnson realizes he's in enough trouble already and keep out of it.

I really don't think Bonds will break the record. He has shown he can't stay healthy. He's old. Getting enough HR's is a stretch. And Bochy is the new manager there and he won't put Bonds in a lineup just to get a record. He wants to win and if he believes Bonds hurts their chances of winning, he'll bench him in a heartbeat.

Cause most people can't jump high enough to dunk a basketball. Most people aren't big enough or strong enough to play football. A bird on a little fake basketball court doesn't really count. Put him on a regulation court while being covered by Ben Wallace and dunk a regular ball and I'll consider it.

In the meantime, a horse isn't an athlete. It is just a horse. It runs because it has nothing else to do.

So has anyone else noticed that Onion sports is now 2 for 2 in predicting stories recently?

They had a 'story' on Bill Parcells talking about how he hates football a couple weeks before he quit with the Cowboys, and at least a week ago posted a picture of a bleeding Barbaro next to a gun with the title "Barbaro Euthanizes Self". I love the Onion, and the fact that they've been spot on recently has been pretty morbidly fantastic.

Bonds won't sell tickets this year though. Everyone is tired of him. It took him 4 months to get a dang contract!! No one cares about him. Bochy wants to win and if Bonds hurts those chances, he'll bench him.

I cant believe i am going to post again on a horse, but since so many people are going crazy over it...

The last reason the owners kept Barbaro alive was for stud fee $$$. Every vet said immediately that there was no way he could ever be a stud because his injured hind legs would never support him to do the deed. The owners knew this right away. The owners are super rich (Standard Oil money) and that allowed them to try and keep Barbaro alive. So criticize them for being mega-rich in the first place or for everyone for putting so much emotion into a horse, but they did not try to save him for stud $$$.

This mistake is being repeated everywhere, but Mayo was not suspended for bumping the referee. He received two technicals in a game and according to league rules is suspended for the next two games because of that.

The referee may look like he took a dive, but that is completely irrelevant as Mayo wasn't punished for bumping the ref.

I understand that the owners of barbaro already had a ton of money. But if they weren't keeping him alive for stud fees, then why did they pump it out of him multiple times before he died? There are other ways to "stud" out a horse other then letting them loose in a pasture. And, for that matter, if quality of life was a question for these owners, how did they improve it for the stupid horse. He was in pain for the last 8 months, put him out of his misery. And i can't believe i just had to write all of this.

OK, WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL BBALL? This is the problem with WWL they over promote everything for a story and then the blogs pick it up and we have to rehash something that is not important.

I said it yesterday High School sports should NEVER be shown on National TV. Leave these kids alone they have enough pressure growing up. Let alone having the media add pressure to it.

AS for Bonds he will only be the biggest sports story on the WWL becuase the rest of us hope he either gets suspended, goes to jail or has a season ending injury that keep him from breaking the record.

And just to clear one comment I made yesterday. I do not think there is a consipricy to see Manning win the Super Bowl but I would not be surprised if like last years Super Bowl when the officating tilted towards one team over the other that the same thing happen this year and it just happened to favor Peyton's team.

What are you on drugs? Athlete of the year for a horse? I couldn't give a crap about horse racing and nobody that I know under 50 years of age cares either. The best thing about Barbaro dying is I won't have to read about it anymore.

The only reason Barbaro is such a story is the potential he showed to be one of those great horses everyone remembers only to have his career cut short by an injury. And with all the instant history we get from Dan and the WWL it is hard for it not to be a big story.

@buda: THANK YOU! Ohio has the same rules. If you get kicked out of a game, you sit for 2. Actually, I think the NCAA has the same rule also.

@cmfost: We are talking about high school basketball because OJ Mayo is the best player to come out of high school since Lebron. Maybe better. Now putting them on TV...I think that is wrong. But I do enjoy talking about HS sports and recruiting.

Mayo was ejected before he even bumped the ref by virtue of receiving 2 technical fouls. The 1st tech was for taunting after the dunk. The 2nd was for responding to the 1st.

How does a HS basketball team get 3 lawyers? Why is there a lawyer for an assistant coach?

More importantly, how can the judge overturn the suspension? It looks pretty clear -- he got ejected, he sits 2 games. The other 5 players might be able to argue theirs -- maybe -- as they came off the bench to end the melee, not to contribute (see Pacers).

I don't think Bonds passing Aaron will be the sports story of the year, at least not in a positive sense. I think the vast majority of baseball fans will not be enthused to see him break this record and I also think that a majority of fans will mentally put an asterik by his name when they talk about the homerun record. My grandmother was a huge Yankees fan and grew up in the time of Babe Ruth, actually even catching a homerun from him when she was a little girl. She never accepted Roger Maris has the single season homerun record holder because they had extended the regular season schedule. The record book may have Bonds name at the top, but I think in many fans minds, Aaron will still be the king to most because of the steroids taint.

Definitely saddened by the news of Barbaro. To wax philosophical for a moment, but how does horse racing differ from outlawed animal sports such as dog fighting, or cock fighting? The horse is put into a situation that could result in life threatening injury for the sake of human entertainment. I mean, technically Barbaro is dead now because people are getting rich off of betting on horse races.. may not be 100% the same as cock fighting, but it is not terribly far off. On a positive, I liked the thought that veterinarian science may have vastly increased their knowledge from the Barbaro case that in the not too distant future, a horse breaking it's leg is not instantly a case where the animal needs to be euthanized.

I don't know what is more entertaining, coming here to read the sports commentary or to see who is feuding with Daddy Rosee or Ferocious Bluebird on that given day. Ease up boys and girls, it's just a sports blog. :-)

I've always argued that in sports, it's about 25% of "what you can do" and 75% of "who you can do it against".

Hey, I can hit three-point jumpers, or very slowly stickhandle the puck behind my back....I just can't do it with guys in my face too well. I can throw a 10-yard slant pass....just not with Urlacher about to kill me, and more likely than not, the DB in tight coverage.

Obviously there's stuff I can't do....dunk....hit a 5-iron....hit an overhead smash at the net without hitting it INTO the net...

The ability to overcome the world's best defenses is what separates the pros from the weekend warriors.

Did you see that Kobe got suspended for that elbow against Gninobli (sp) the other day? I hate Kobe with a passion, but even i cant believe that he got a 1 game suspension. The league is trying to take away all contact.

This clip was the Raja Bell clothesline in the Playoffs.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V8ZukXsWmk

Now go watch the ESPN MOTION clip on the Manu Ginobili play on the front page of the WWL.

Did you notice that Raja smiles in the clip?I'm sure Kobe is telling the truth about going over to Duncan and the Spurs bench to check if he's OK. He couldn't lie, the Spurs would say that he was.

So Kobe hits a guy in the act of shooting inadvertantly and is genuinly sorry and concerned.Raja does a clothesline that had to have been premeditated to a guy he notoriously hates and smiles afterward.

1 game suspensions for both?This is so biased it's insane.I'm no big Kobe or Lakers fan, but seriously.

That AHL goal is insane.. Too bad it wasn't done during regulation play as it would then become one of the best goals ever in my mind. But in a shootout you don't have to worry about the defensive player who is bearing down on you and trying to poke the puck away.. so it loses just a bit on the all time meter for that.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.